going on in capitol hill of the war profiteers in virginia what impact will the looming defense cuts have and might they actually be just the thing america needs to get back on the right track also corporate america has messed with the wrong people facing salary cuts port workers in the east coast are threatening to strike to get him to impact the economy to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars right about why this strike in particular is so important and how if it's successful it could bring about a future of leisure society for working americans plus it's been less than two years but a new government in japan is already forgotten all the lessons learned from the fukushima nuclear crisis as millions of tons of radioactive debris drifts at this moment for the united states is west coast i know what the japanese government is now doing if you put the entire world in danger and later in the show we'll have your take my take a live segment your chance to call in and ask a question share your thoughts live on the air. you need to know this president obama is back in washington d.c

>>> welcome to "this week in defense news." i'm vago muradian. with everyone from terrorists to grandparents using social media, we'll look at how dod and the cia are exploiting this new technology as a powerful intelligence tool. then with washington mired in political gridlock we take a closer look at the last great senate. but first, the nonpartisan stimson center recently released a report, a new u.s. defense strategy for a new era that outlines four approaches for cutting defense spending but maintaining capability. stimson's co-founder barry blechman spearheaded the study. the report has become a must- read for anyone involved in the coming defense review or budget planning team. barry, welcome to the team. >> thank you, vag go. >> congratulations for your slot on the defense news top 100 most influential people. >> that was the biggest thrill of the year. >> so let's start off with the report. each report begins with assumptions about threats to the united states to be facing and what's going to be needed to meet them what. are those threats and what's the right strategy

>>> welcome to "this week in defense news." i'm vago muradian. after more than a decade after war, marine snipers in afghanistan say they need better weapons and ammunition. we talk to one reporter who is embedded with marine sharp shooters in action. but first over a career spanning more than 60 years few have earned a more formidable reputation as an analytical thinker than harold brown who was the nation's 14th defense secretary during the carter administration. a true prodigy he earned hi doctorate in physics from columbia university when he was just 21. he started his career at livermore lab in california and eventually moving to the pentagon where he became the director of defense research and engineering then air force secretary and eventually defense secretary. his ability to handle a staggering workload are legend including read and annotating 400 page briefing books overnight. during the career brown shaped fighters like the f-15 and f-16 that remain the air force's backbone fleet today. and championed jointness among the military serv before the failed iran hostage resc

maintain the sea lanes in that area, whatever the challenge might be. even as we reduce our defense budget, therefore we must maintain and would maintain a powerful navy, and that that navy would be charged with maintaining the freedom of those sea lanes. we had, of course, to be concerned as to whether there would be a challenge for that. we observed that the rise and shine has more energy needs for more energy than they can produce themselves, and to maintain the economic growth which they believe is essential. we observed that the south china sea is a potential source of energy supplies for china and that there is a contention among the nations in that region as to where the ownership and rights of access are to the south china sea. and this is conceivable that china might seek to reestablish its claim there by military coercion and that could lead them into a confrontation with the united states' desire to maintain free access. the best way of avoiding that military conflict is what we should see because the military conflict with china would be catastrophic for both nations, in

. >> senator graham, final question, can chuck hagel become secretary of defense if he's the president's nominee? >> a lot of republicans asking hard questions, i don't think he's going to get many republican votes. i like chuck, but his positions, i didn't know all of them. are out of the mainstream and well to the left of the president. i think it will be a challenging nomination, the hearings will matter. >> if i were in the senate on the armed services committee, and he was nominated i would have some serious questions to ask him. >> i think senator engle will not be nominated or not be confirmed. the concede in the obama white house was these are republicans. on foreign policy, he's been way to the left of president obama. >>> former nebraska senator chuck hagel has been leaked not nominated leaked as a potential nominee for secretary of defense, and there was already a massive counter offensive against him. it does have more substance to it, than the attacks against susan rice. a fair amount of that substance consists of insinuations. the sides are forming, there's the chuck hagel

. it is mainly defense and training issues. it gets to the difference here between mr. affleck, the training of the second battalion until after there is a commitment from the congolese government to reform, versus dr. frazer's comments and mr. carafano's comments about focusing on the training. maybe it is the mission you think ought to be delayed current the other is the commitment to security reform. perhaps a good start by commenting, do you think we ought to move forward without a commitment to reform? mr. affleck, why is it important to you to have that reform first before moving forward? dr. frazer? >> i think we should move 4 right away. -- forward right away. the amount of time that it takes us to actually do a training mission, the lead time that is necessary, interagency work is necessary, it can be a very long time after the decision is made before we are actually doing that training mission. i do not think we should delay. i do not think it is a matter of policy, that we should use this issue, traded italian that can protect civilian lives -- we should not hold that up.

years ago when the army decided that those lands were no longer necessary for national defense. so, that strategic entrance to this harbor was the last land that our troops and sailors and marines and soldiers would see if they departed for the pacific theater in world war ii and korea and vietnam, and also the first thing they would see upon returning back to the bay area. so, between the presidio and the head lands, we now have wonderful park lands that have been converted. we call it converting from post to park. repurposing those lands from national defense to environmental defense. and i believe it is probably the most accessful base conversion in the united states. if you haven't been to the presidio, i think you should try and make that. if you're from out of town, it's a spectacular transition there. so, these golden gate national parks that i happen to be the superintendent of has now become after 40 years the second most visited national park in our country. we get 14 million people a year that come to our parks. it has spectacular coastline, includes muir wood, alcatraz,

fiscal cliff deal. but a former assistant secretary of defense says he can help with a way to cut almost $100 billion from the defense budget. he will be here to explain. hey, look! a shooting star! make a wish! i wish we could lie here forever. i wish this test drive was over, so we could head back to the dealership. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. test drive! but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today. >>> this whole fiscal cliff mess shows how incredibly out of touch your the way people really live in this country. you are off in la la land and everyone is saying how you're acting like a bunch of spoiled brats who are more interested in being right than in doing the right thing and actually representing the people who elected you. >> my new year's message to washington is this, there are not enough wealthy people or corporations to keep you in off

murder victims will be presented in court. we hear from the defense on how it supports their case and who is see it. >> he's nailed the lid on the coffin. >> one family opens up about their experience and what this could mean for children who need loving homes. >> the made in china label is taking on a new meaning for this woman. >>> it's moving closer and will be here in the morning. inches of snow are just to the west. wyatt everhart has been monitoring the situation for days now. when do we expect the snowfall to hit because a lot of people are trying to plan their day. >> expect to wake up to the beginning of the this storm. snow showers just before dawn. most of us start with snow, and then the changeover and then it will move somewhat north. this is going to be throughout the day on saturday. it includes all of our northern count aies. hartford -- counties. hartford down through howard. not to say that areas across to kent island. you will get a few hours of snow in the morning, an inch or two of slush. temperatures now depends where you're looking at. we're below freezing i

was maybe missing the problem. tom? >> i think it is important to realize that self-defense does not begin at the moment of conflict. there's self-defense that the society enables through regulations, through laws that have passed, through norms it tries to establish. and one of the big things that is missing from this debate, we can go back and forth and have a conversation about whether armed security would stop anything from happening, didn't help in columbine, but the bigger question is, we as a society, what does this say when you want to put more guns in your place of education, in your place where you send your 5, 6, 7-year-old children? is that the message, the sort of society that we want to be? or do we want to take self-defense before the moment of conflict? do we want to look at legislation? do we want to put policies in place that allow us to defend ourselves before we get to a point where we say, i wish that teacher had it. by the time we get to that point, it was too late. >> hailey, were your surprised by the press conference? >> i have been optimistic for the officia

. defense gets cut, revenue gets raised. it's the only way to make the numbers add up. >> what a lot of traders are saying, it was the first session of this five-day losing streak that we've been in, is that perhaps the markets really need to sell off. perhaps there neez to be a whoosh to the down side for washington to see how important it is to get a deal done. do you agree there needs to be something like that, a real point of pain for d.c. to get going? >> sure. i think that's right. i think there isn't a feeling that it's a real crisis. you hear the talk, well, if we go over the cliff, we can remedy it, we can do something two months later and make it retroactive. we need a signal from the market, but also need the ceos who have stepped forward and fundamentaled the campaign to deliver a message to both sides, because they do contribute to both sides, that if you don't get serious and solve this, lose our numbers. >> governor, it's interesting, coming from one of the ten largest states in terms of federal tax revenue. i'm curious what you think the implications are going to be for

force to launch insider attacks. >>> japan'air self-defense force scrambled fighter jets after a chinese aircraft came close to japanese air space. the aircraft was flying near the senkaku islands in the south china sea. the defense ministry says the asdf spotted a wide 12 propellor aircraft on its radar. the plane was approaching from the north. it released f-15 fighter jets from the chinese prefecture. it flew within 120 kilometers of the islands but left without raiding japanese air space. the afdf dispatched fighters in response. a wide 12 aircraft also approached the islands last saturday but left without violating japan's air space. >>> a chinese think tank says it can't rule out the possibility of clashes breaking out between japan and china over territorial disputes. the government-affiliated chinese academy of social sciences released its assessment of the international situation in a report on monday. referring to the budget in japan, they reported china-japan is in the worst state. it adds that tensions could be eased through diplomatic channels. china has repeatedly sent ship

opposition to the nomination of chuck haverhill to secretary of defense. he referred to the pro-israel lobby as the jewish lobby. do think it is fair to hold chuck hegel to account for that remark. >> i think that remark is troublesome. it shows at the best lack of sensitivity. at the worst, prejudice. i am concerned about the nomination. obviously chuck hegel has been at the center for many years and has good attributes. there's a lot of controversy not only with that remark, but with some of his votes. it is troublesome. i've been hearing a lot for my constituents, mainly in opposition to his nomination. >> there are two sets of things i have come up, one of them defected he declined to sign some letters in the senate that were related to issues relating to the middle east. he voted against sanctions on iran and libya. he has expressed the view that press containment might be an option. that does not seem to be in line with the president's policy or recent votes in the senate. what is your view on that? >> those things are all true. it seems there is some kind of an endemic hostility

to go ahead, even on defense. i'm just getting breaking news that the president -- >> well, just remember, on defense, we are now spending substantially more, inflation adjusted, than at the height of the vietnam war, when we were waging the cold war and we had 500,000 troops in the field. >> well, cnn has just confirmed, congressman, that the white house, the president will meet with the congressional leadership, both parties tomorrow at the white house. what do you think they need to put on the table and get done tomorrow? what do you want to hear them say? >> john, when did we stop teaching civics in our schools? the president is not supposed to be part of the deliberative process. he heads an entirely separate branch of government with an altogether different purpose. i think we need to go back to the way the government was designed to operate, and that is the deliberative function, in the legislative branch, both the house and the senate, acting independently. and then resolving their differences through conference. that process works, it works very well. this business of a

told chris wallace he got a call from the defense secretary suggesting these cuts are coming. lake a listen. >> i was called by leon panetta at 7:30 during dinner. >> secretary of defense. >> this is the failure of the supercommittee to find $1.2 trillion in cuts. half of the 1.2 falls on defense who already cut. he says if we do this we will shoot the defense department in the head and send out 800,000 layoff notices the beginning of the year. he is worried to death if we don't fix sequestration we will destroy the biggest military in the world at the time we need it most. >> impact potentially on the national defense. also on the markets. the president noting in the "meet the press" interviews. the markets going down on the fears there will not be a debt deal. watch out for the markets this coming week. >> they went down 158 points and see what happens on monday. certainly they will be going all night. we will get back to you once we have the latest on what if anything they can agree on. >> realistically what can lawmakers do with so little time on the clock? bring in bob cusack fr

. one being the next secretary of defense. did you expect to see chuck hagel of all people so embattled from both sides? >> well, yes, sort of. yourn, you know that john mccain hates the guy. you know, he -- and he didn't create a lot of friends toward the end of his time and throughout most of his time as a senator. because he didn't really tow the party line on policy. he broke with republicans on the iraq war. and so he oftentimes would give democrats a way of saying what they were doing was bipartisan and then had the sheen of the veblt of a guy like hagel so it's this guy that's been a thorn in their side the whole time. now here he is he might be elevated to secretary of defense. and you could see that's going to bother the same types of people that seem to be bothered by every other person that's floated by obama. and that's mccain and graham and those fellas. >> but we've heard about this mccain not liking or hating chuck hagel. what's that about? what's their history? from one maverick to another. >> exactly. there's only so much room in the senate for mavericks. you know? and

some republican support. >> house republicans voted pass the tax cut and automatic cut to defense and domestic program starting in the new year. so they shifted the focus for the need for majority leader harry reid and the senate democrats to do something. >> the way the senate is fon functionm right now, not even bringing the bills upper committee is frustrating to those of us in the house that are doing the work that has to be done. if senate wants to resolution, the senate has to actually pass something on this. we have done our work. senate has to respond. >> challenge is determining what passed the republican-led house and democrat-controlled senate. fiscal conservatives say a smaller stop gap measure to avoid the cliff won't work. >> if we, in fact, do not use this period of time before right now, deal with the bigger issue and entitlements, if we just continue to kick the can down the road. the market will respond in a more permanent and negative way to our inaction. >> one thing leading republicans and democrats seem to agree on is time is running short. veteran senate democra

. >> reporter: we spoke to the defense team for michael maurice johnson who said they need to respond to that hearing submitted by the state. the baltimore state's attorney's office wants to show a video that shows phylicia barnes having sex with the defendant's younger brother alongside the sister who is engaged in sexual relations with john covent the defense wanted to keep the tape out of the courtroom for sensitivity for the family but says now it will be used to their advantage. attorneys say it shows barnes and johnson are friendly, which is a different light that was presented in johnson's bail review. we don't know how they believe the tape will support their case against john son. the state wants to close the courtroom when the tape is played but the defense will argue it should romaine hope because that is michael johnson's constitutional right. the trial date is still scheduled for january 22nd this issue will have to be ironed out before then. we'll have are on abc2news.com and abc2 news at 11 as the attorneys speak to us about their defense. cheryl conner, abc2 news. >> baltimore

britain's plans for strengthening its defense ties with the region's royals. the next. almost three billion dollars of defense smoker deals have been signed between russia and india president putin's on a visit to new delhi cementing ties with fast growing economies as they continue to try and boost the global influence financial reports on how their improved world standing is worrying so with the west russia and india have signed around three billion dollar worth of military contracts today and many experts have already said that that is very important and that is very symbolic why this theme is that today india is number one one point importer in the world and russian made equipment accounts for more than seventy percent of the indian military supplies but recently india has signed many contracts with you guys and israel and some have started saying that russia is losing its role its position in this particular region region and especially on the indian military market with all these contracts signed today we can say that's not the case and cooperation is still very high and russi

. defense cuts. domestic cuts. what is going to happen to that? are they going to address that? >> i was called by leon panetta last night at 7:30 during dinner. >> chris: secretary of defense. >> and he said i was told there will not be anything in the deal to avoid se sequestration from going into effect. half of the 1.2 falls on defense. we already cut $489 billion. he says if we do this it will be shoot the defense department in the head and we will have to send out 800,000 layoff notices at the beginning of the year. he is worried we will destroy the finest military in the world at the time we need it the most and this doesn't cover defense cuts on top of the ones we already have. >> chris: briefly will you go for a deal that deals with taxes but doesn't deal with sequester. >> this is a deal without consequence to the debt. she told me all of the $600 billion goes on the deficit. i hope that is true. that is only 5% or 6% of the deficit. when it comes to defense spending the only reason i would vote for this deal if sequestration is not included is trusting people like dianne t

, the congolese defense forces, military justice, and the police. we must work to develop a more professional forces that respect human rights and protect territorial integrity in population. the defense department has provided training to the congolese military, including training of a light infantry battalion in 2010. sexual and gender based violence prevention and training were incorporated in every aspect of this effort. in addition to the ongoing training, the defense department's as included logistics, exercise participation, basic military intelligence training, humanitarian assistance and he military action. moving forward, the defense department stands ready to work with our colleagues to determine the best way ahead including providing additional infantry training. the scale of need is significant. to date we have trained one battalion with 500 soldiers and military in numbers of approximately 150,000. the capacity for assistance is limited. the congolese defense ministry has been slow to respond to our request for a corporate training and information necessary for cong

really developed that was important for the defense department and it involved a danger to our government or could do damage to the department or they needed something really seriously needed it, often times in this government we can't respond and we don't respond effective lifment they would go to daniel inouye and it would be fixed. because they understood that peace through strength was the best way to avoid war and they felt a sense of great response tobblet ensure that the defense department was not damaged on their watch. and their experience and judgment is such that they could tell the difference between complaints and real danger to america's defense capability. i would just say, mr. president, that daniel inouye has established a record that places him among the finest senators to ever serve here, one of the finest hunal beings to ever serve here. and i want to say as a member of the armed services committee how much i appreciated his particular commitment to ensuring the american defense capability remains second to none and his willingness to take the steps necessary to mainta

, $110 billion sequestered. automatic cuts, defense cuts, domestic cuts. what will happen to that? will you address that? >> we'll -- i called leon panetta, last night during dinner. >> chris: secretary of defense. >> and he said, i have been told there will be nothing in the bill to avoid sequestration going into effect and this is the failure of the super committee to find $1.2 trillion in cuts for the debt ceiling increase and, we have cut $489 billion and he says if we do it, it will be shooting the defense department in the head and we have to send out 800,000 layoff notices the beginning of the year and he is worried to death that if we don't fix the sequestration we will destroy the finest military in the world, at a time we need it the most and this bill doesn't cover defense cuts, on top of the ones we have -- >> so, briefly, will you go for a deal today that deals with -- doesn't deal with the sequestering. >> the reason i think i might, i know diane feels the same way. she told me all the $600 billion goes on the deficit. i hope that that is true. but that is only 5 or

the shot clock -- >> tim: there is craft doing what he does naturally. >> greg: the defense is giving them a chance. >> clark: exactly. >> tim: smith over the -- was that an over the back? i think it may have been. thad matta is in disbelief. i thought that was a long rebound. looks like it might be clean but a call that goes the other way, and kansas gets to the freeing line. >> clark: and it is the double bonus for the jayhawks. >> tim: that's right, two shots for young. you could almost see that in that sequence what you were talking about earlier when the shots aren't falling, even deshaun thomas aimed that shot. it wasn't his normal on stroke. >> clark: that's right. that's what happens. you don't see it go in, and it's prolonged, it can deflate you in a number of ways. >> tim: very similar to that butler second half in the national championship game a couple years back. they just could not find it. >> clark: traveling on thomas as he tried to rush inside. >> tim: in a lot of ways, kansas was a bit of a surprise making it last year although robinson is an outstanding player, seem

provided anything to syria that could be used as a defensive war and what we have provided are defensive weapons and. defensive systems there is also a well known fact we we have discussed it on numerous occasions and we don't see how it can be used within the context of a civil war we are not supplying the opposition with any weapons. to the country for international stakeholders and actually those arms are becoming ever more lethal because we don't have. one hundred of our special operations. around syria. i guess you could say some of the parties are directly involved in syria but that's not the russian federation thank you so so much. just. one last comment. there and. it will be. the conflict has been going on in syria. it is really indispensable that this conflict is finished in two thousand and thirteen and hopefully at the beginning of two thousand and thirteen at the end of two thousand and thirteen. again i think that. everybody recognizes that change is needed in syria but that change has to be really. profound and that the question is not have some cosmetic changes

investigators to a former defense minister all the juicy details in just a few minutes. if you're from my generation or younger and you were born into the one percent that i have a lot of college debt i sure do you know the deal used to be that you paid a significant amount for education but in turn that gave you a much higher salary later but now the system works in reverse many young americans studied very hard to not make any money at all around nine percent of americans with student loans have defaulted and at least nine but maybe up to eighteen percent are ninety days late with their payments given the situation the people at u.c. berkeley were nice enough to give away a million dollars in scholarships for everyone everyone that's an illegal immigrant yeah that's right if you're born in america then pay to jump the border and enjoy the red carpet education treatment the people who will be getting the scholarships are mostly the children of illegal immigrants who spent many of their formative years in america and yet i could see the logic that could be hard for them to get an educatio

fighting effort and one somewhat simple but very effective solution was the use of defense connect on line, the dco chat room. basically cal fire personnel, along with all the individual squadrons, all connected realtime able to communicate and coordinate both from the squadron and also on scene. >> well, thank you. let's go ahead and move into relationships. we had a significant discussion yesterday about relationships and again the highlighted and supervisor chiu's comments this morning. how do we ensure they are enduring past the past couple years. >> as general speese said yesterday, we are here for the long time. on the installation side which we coordinate with cal fire and the navy we have annual exercise and we hit that every springtime prior to the fire season. i think what's also, it's important to remember that although it was stressed, the military members are members of the community as well so let's not forget that as far as active duty. although we're transient in nature, sometimes we're in deployment, many of us are home owners and we live in that community. we are par

: there was a common law right in england allowing people to have firearms for self-defense and other purposes issue and that right, common law right, traveled across the ocean with the colonists, and they needed the guns here, whereas in england, mostly, they did not. people soon came to have the facility, and knowledge of firearms, and, of course, as we all know, it produced the results of victory against the most powerful military country in the world at the time in the revolutionary war. >> host: i want to talk about that a little bit, and, again, people have hazy views on history, and, you know, it comes from movies or tv a lot of the time. when we had the revolutionary period, what was the role of guns in these militias or requirements that we talked about? >> guest: well, george washington didn't think a lot of the militia. he grouched about it at times, but he also made remarks that allowed how the militia was a useful thing to have and couldn't have bill the army without the existence of the militia and people in the militias, and more importantly, volunteers and others

risk across the ocean? >> guest: they have firearms for self-defense and the purposes and that right common law right the colonists the needed the guns here whereas most england they didn't, and so people soon came to have an enormous facility and knowledge of firearms and of course as we all know it proves the result of victory against the most powerful military country in the world with of the revolutionary war. >> host: i want to talk about that a little bit, and again i think people get different views in history, and it comes from movies or tv a lot of times. but when we have the revolutionary period what was the role of guns in the militia or these requirements that we talk about? >> guest: george washington didn't think a lot of the militia. he growled about a lot of times but also made some remarks that aloud how the militia was a useful thing to have. they could have built the continental army with the existence of the militia and people that have been in the militia and more importantly the volunteers and others who knew how to use firearms, and that was the key. >> host: s

provinces to cast their ballots in the second round. >> now state and defense department officials and actor and activist ben affleck testified at a hearing on violence in eastern congo where a rebel group has terrorized people. the m-23 rebels are defectors from the army and were recently able to overtake the city of goma despite a large u.n. security presence there. the house armed services committee hosts this hearing. this is three hours. i can't help but reflect on the millions of innocent people around the world who are caught in fundamentally unjust and socially complex situations. these situations can make anyone's heart break and naturally leads one to consider the simple question what can be done. one thing it sure makes me appreciate our country. i have heard that less than 2% of the people that have ever lived here on the earth have lived under the kind of freedoms that we enjoy. we are so blessed. and when we see how innocent lives are -- how people are hurt so much by some of the thing that is are happening around the world, it just again really makes me appreciate ho

he does naturally. >> greg: the defense is giving them a chance. >> clark: exactly. >> tim: smith over the -- was that an over the back? i think it may have been. thad matta is in disbelief. i thought that was a long rebound. looks like it might be clean but a call that goes the other way, and kansas gets to the freeing line. >> clark: and it is the double bonus for the jayhawks. >> tim: that's right, two shots for young. you could almost see that in that sequence what you were talking about earlier when the shots aren't falling, even deshaun thomas aimed that shot. it wasn't his normal on stroke. >> clark: that's right. that's what happens. you don't see it go in and it's prolonged, it can deflate you in a number of ways. >> tim: very similar to that butler second half in the national championship game a couple years back. they just could not find it. >> clark: traveling on thomas as he tried to rush inside. >> tim: in a lot of ways kansas was a bit of a surprise making it last year although robinson is an outstanding player seem in your mind as built for this season's final four

? >> it's not a lot of the total number, half of that goes to defense which are own admirals and generals have said and secretary of defense would be devastating. this comes on top of -- $50 billion in one year to the defense. and it doesn't touch at all medicare and the other entitlement programs. >> gregg: biggest drivers and cost and absolutely nothing has been done about those things? >> it's criminal. she is things are going to destroy us. we can live with higher taxes, you might not think it's the best idea on the rich. i think it's a way to go about it but we can't survive we are without adjusting our entitlement reform unless it is addressed. >> gregg: jamie weinstein, it's criminal -- i didn't take it that far but you do did. >> without a fiscal cliff teal the pentagon is bracing for $500 billion but that is over the next decade and raises questions how military leaders plan to keep the nation safe. >> last friday when president obama rolled out his new plan for steering us away from the fiscal cliff there was word he did not say, that word was, sequester, the sequester would aut

along with federal unemployment insurance and a broad package of the spending cuts including defense spending will take effect. do weeks of fruitless negotiations and john boehner and senate leader are working on a deal this morning to avoid the fiscal cliff, or as chris hayes and i call it, the fiscal curve. the deadline is soft. it's not like every american is going to be handed a bill on january 1st and there's way to manage the damage if the country goes over. the senate is set to convene this afternoon with the house to follow tonight. there's a chance that a compromise will be reached, less than 48 hours before tax rates revert to their clinton dasher are levels and board across the board spending cuts talk effect. when the president took to the podium friday afternoon to urge the law enforcements to get their act together with he didn't exactly project confidence. >> this is deja vu all over again. america wonders why it is that in this town for some reason, you can't get stuff done in an organized timetable. why everything always has to wait until the last minute. we're now a

aerospace defense command. while we count down to christmas we are also tracking the holiday forecast. >>> fox 5's gwen tolbart joins us now from the weather center. we've asked about the chances for a white christmas. anything new tonight perhaps? >> we've got a little active weather moving into the course of tomorrow, but i am not looking at it bringing us anything in terms of a white christmas. let's look at the maps. here's a look at our satellite and radar composite, a few clouds moving into the south of us. we had rail bright day, plenty of sunshine -- a really bright day, plenty of sunshine due to a ridge of high pressure. we have a freezing rain advisory in effect from 6 a.m. until noon on monday to the west of us and we are talking a period of freezing rain and sleet early in the morning. then we'll see some snow mixing in a little later, but less than an inch of accumulation as far as the snow is concerned and less than .1-inch accumulation of ice. just keeping a close eye on this system. here's a look at the numbers today. we reached 47 at all three airports today,

, republican lindy graham said he got a phone call from the defense secretary, saying even if there is a deal on tax, it is likely they won't have a deal on the spending cuts. so our national defense will take a hit. take a listen. >> not going to happen -- >> i talked to leon panetta last night, 7:30, during dinner -- >> secretary of defense? >> he said, lindsay, i have been told nothing of sequestration will go into effect, and that is the debt ceiling increase, half of the $1.2 falls on defense. we have cut $89 billion. he said, it would be shooting the defense department in the head and we will have to send out 800,000 layoff notices the beginning of the year. he is worried to death if we don't fix sequestration, we will destroy the finest military in the worlds when we need it most. >> if the sequestration goes through, massive impact on our national defense. if the tax rate issue is not settled, we could be facing the largest tax increase in american history since world war ii. largest tax increase since world war ii. finally, the president noting in "meet the press," if there

help, um, the military family members who have served in the defense of our country to come back into their communities and to really be fully integrated and fully reintegrated into their communities. and i think that we all carry a sense of ownership and a sense of responsibility about that community. and no longer are military families isolated. and no longer should people who have served in the military only be either in military communities. we really have to embrace them as a national community: in our neighborhoods, in our schools, and, in that way, i think, we show our respect for the work that they have done. and, in fact, we want to embrace and be joyful about their service. and, at the same time, help them become the civilian members as they leave the military, the civilian members of the community that they can. i think it's all part of our national defense, it's all part of our national security. excellent. barbara, and broaden for us the definition of what a military family is. in the past, we looked at military families as being the spouse of the active duty military ser

in the previous cabinet. onodera is defense minister. he's well versed in dip ro mat tick and security issues. he chaired a lower house committee in okinawa and the northern territories. a newly created post for akira amari for the council on economic and fiscal policy which was cut by the previous government. we asked people in central tokyo what they expect from the abe administration. >> translator: i hope it will fix the economy and energize japan. >> translator: i want a new cabinet to use tax-free on the tsunami survivors. i really have a high expectation about this. >> translator: i want a new administration to listen to the voices of young people and do something new because nothing really seems to have changed. >> abe takes charge as japan is embroiled in some difficult relations with its neighbors. a former u.s. official hopes the new government will rebuild regional ties and those with the u.s. former deputy secretary of state james steinberg was a leading advocate for the asia pacific region. he welcomed abe's plan to make his the first foreign destination. >> i th